Day 8 - Oriental, NC

It is officially Day 8 of our Big Adventure and still so far, so good.  The weather has remained gorgeous - it can’t last much longer, so we are trying to enjoy every minute of the sunshine, mild temperatures, and calm waters.  I’ve decided that my theme song so far has been “Quiet Your Mind” by the awesome Zac Brown Band (and video created by someone for You Tube) - it does a great job of summing up how I’ve been feeling on the trip so far.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3oNYpjOJRA

Sunset at anchor:

Picture of the full moon rising while at anchor:

After anchoring for the first five nights, we pulled into a marina Sunday night, and it was heavenly.  River Dunes is a somewhat new community/marina a few miles north of Oriental, NC - very luxurious compared to most marinas we’ve experienced.  We had a delicious dinner at the restaurant there (prime rib and lobster macaroni and cheese - yum), and using all the power we wanted felt almost as decadent : )

Yesterday (Monday) we made the short transit to Oriental, NC - a quaint little sailing/boating town.  We found a spot at the free city dock, but there is no power provided and the city has a policy stating you can’t run generators while here (so we’re back to conservation mode).  We’ll stay here tonight again, then chug on south toward New Bern, where the trawler meet-up will be.

The biggest surprise to us so far has definitely been the friendliness of the boating community.  We have already met many couples, some of whom have been doing this Southern migration for a decade or more.  Everyone has been so willing to offer their knowledge and advice, which has been very helpful.  Mark has been busy sizing up all the other boats and making plans for what he wants in our next boat (i.e. - when we decide to sell the house, pull up our roots, and do this full time - LOL - don’t think he should hold his breath for this to happen, but it its nice for him to be able to dream!)

We realized quickly that we had not thought to make “calling cards” with our boat name and contact information - it is apparently how the boating people greet and remember each other.  Our official cards have been ordered online and will be delivered to my parents’ house in Myrtle Beach, along with a banner with the boat’s name to hang on the bottom of our dingy mounted on the back of the boat  (which blocks the view of the boat’s name).  I suggested we add the comment to the banner “Permission granted for a slow pass” - since we get this request numerous times over the radio every day - but Mark vetoed my suggestion.  It’s been interesting to see how boats hail us without knowing the name (“Small light green trawler” seems to be the most popular so far).

Quality Time is definitely on the small end of the spectrum for boats making this type of journey.  We’ve had a lot of compliments of the condition of the boat, but we are definitely dwarfed by most of the others.  There has been plenty of room for us onboard during this great weather - the true test will come when we get boat-bound by bad weather and the walls start to close in on us.  I’m sure you will hear all about it when that happens!

The plans for today are to investigate the town of Oriental by bike - we hear there’s a park down the road and several cute-looking shops to check out.  Still doing well equipment-wise (more knocking on wood), and Mark continues to monitor all systems for any signs of malfunction or need for tweaking/adjusting.  I’ve had quite the leisurely time so far, making a point to maintain my status as non-essential personnel.  

Mark and I remain extremely grateful we are able to take this journey together.  We definitely miss everyone back home and hope that things are going well back in the real world.  Be well, and we’ll talk to you again soon!!!!